What We Did This Summer (Page 3) No Trivial Pursuits (Page 6) ... Secondary School Teachers Honored (Page 7)

Video Games for Use in the Classroom (Page 8)Department of Special Education Celebrates 50 Years (Page 13)

Fall 2007 The University of Kansas School of Education Alumni Magazine

ON THE COVER: The University of Kansas campus was home to 40 high school students for six weeks this summer through KU’s Math and Science

Summer Institute. Participating students took courses in math, chemistry, physics, German, English and leadership, and learned about the support services

available to help them succeed. The Institute is just one example of a myriad of summer programs offered by the School of Education. See pages 3-5.

O F C O U R S E

2FROM THE DEAN

Now entering his third year at the

University of Kansas, Rick Ginsberg gives

reasons why he’s proud to be a Jayhawk.

4MADE IN THE SHADESchool of Education faculty write in

about their special summer projects.

11ACCOMPLISHMENTSAccolades to School of Education

faculty and staff.

14ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

School of Education alumni

are doing great things.

14ANNOUNCEMENTSTake note of what’s happening

at the School.

15ALUMNI NEWS

Check up on your former classmates.

Fall 2007

3What We DidThis SummerNo such thing as summer daze at KU’s School of Education. Amazing things happen here year ’round.

7 Wolfe Teaching Excellence Award Honors Secondary School Teachers ■ 10 New Tenure Track

Faculty Appointments ■ 12 Faculty Authors ■ 13 Department of Special Education Celebrates

Golden Anniversary ■ 17 Remembering the Teachers Who Touched Our Lives

8Video Games for the ClassroomKU’s ALTEC is pushing play as an effective learning tool through a new generation of Arcademia games.

6Nothing TrivialBudig Teaching Professor in Education Phil McKnight imparts a timeless, inspirational message to educators.

TEACHING NOTES

1

RESEARCH REPORT

SERVICE SPOTLIGHT

am comfortably settling into my third year as Dean of

the School of Education here atop Mount Oread. What

a wonderful set of years it has been. We have great

students, supportive and helpful alumni, caring and productive

faculty, facilities as good as any in the country — I couldn’t be

luckier than to be a Jayhawk! Soon we will be celebrating the

100th anniversary of the School of Education

at KU. The year 2009-2010 marks the

centennial for education at KU, and we will

be in touch about our plans for the celebration

in the months and years ahead.

With this issue of The Jayhawk Educator

you’ll see this year’s annual report and our

honor roll listing those who have been kind

enough to support our work. There are stories

of interest throughout the publications. One

thing you should be proud of as an alumnus

or friend is recognizing the amazing things

going on here. We are making an impact in all kinds of ways

through the efforts of our incredible graduates. Consider, for

example, the following:

• ThefirsttouchdownscoredinaSuperBowlwasbyaKUSchool

of Education graduate (Curtis McClinton).

• ThesuperintendentofschoolsinColumbia,Mo.—homeofour

athletic rival, the University of Missouri — is a KU graduate

(Phyllis Chase).

• AmongourPh.D.andEd.D.graduates,thereareapproximately

30 presidents of colleges, community colleges or businesses;

250 professors at colleges and universities across the country;

and 130 K-12 school principals, superintendents and other

administrators.

• Thethreewinningestbasketballprogramsinthecountry

— KU, the University of Kentucky and the University of North

Carolina at Chapel Hill — named their arenas after KU School

of Education graduates: “Phog” Allen Fieldhouse at KU, Adolph

Rupp Arena at Kentucky and the Dean Smith Dome at UNC.

Pretty impressive, don’t you agree? I could go on and on about

what our graduates have done and continue to do to affect educa-

tion, sports, healthcare and many other fields. I could emphasize

the great things our faculty and students are doing. For instance,

we were invited by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement

of Teaching to be one of 23

research universities working

to redefine what the

professional practice

doctorate should look like.

We currently are considering

several ways to help address

teacher shortages across

Kansas and the nation.

The work of our faculty and

research centers continues

to impact children, schools

and other service agencies

throughout the country.

I was in China this past

summer with a delegation

from KU and was handed a

book written in Chinese by a

dean from East China Normal

School in Shanghai (middle

picture). He was proud to

show me that he had trans-

lated a book by KU Special

Education professors so their

important work could impact

students in that growing and

dynamic economy.

It probably is no surprise,

then, that our graduate

programs were ranked 12th among public universities and 20th

overall in the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings. According

to that report, our School of Education’s research funding was

eighth highest among all universities, public or private. No wonder

little Dorothy was so anxious to come back home!

Please take a few minutes to read through the publications we’re

sending, and be sure to get information to us about how we can be

in touch with you via e-mail. We hope to share more information

about our students, research and other programs, and doing so

using technology will make that easier for us. As always, please feel

free to contact me directly if you have any questions or comments

(ginsberg@ku.edu).

Go, Jayhawks!

Jayhawks Reach the World

G R E E T I N G S F R O M T H E D E A N

Rick Ginsberg, Ph.D.

I

Pictures from the KU delegation’s visit to China this summer. Inscribed on the monument in front of the building shown at bottom are the words, in Chinese and English, “Seek truth, foster originality and live up to the name of teacher.”

2

S E R V I C E S P O T L I G H T

What We Did This Summer hey say summer is for hammocks and long, tall glasses of lemonade.

Nothing against hammocks or lemonade, of course, but faculty and staff

at the School of Education had quite a few other things on their minds

this summer, too. Take a look . . .

The Center for Research on Learning

entertained and informed 185 guests during

its annual conference for members of the

Strategic Instruction Model Professional

Development Network in July. The

“Treasures of SIM” conference featured

keynote speaker Patricia Alexander, profes-

sor and distinguished scholar/teacher in

the Department of Human Development,

University of Maryland. Dr. Alexander’s

keynote address focused on the role of

motivation in strategic learning and strate-

gic teaching. She emphasized three qualities

necessary for students to achieve academic

success: skill, will and thrill.

CRL also recognized recipients of three

awards. Anita Friede, a superb leader in the

SIM Network and a tireless advocate for

struggling learners, received the SIM

Leadership Award. She is a SIM

professional developer from New York.

The Riverbank, Calif., High School, which

has embraced the work of the Center and

become an outstanding example for all who

desire improved outcomes for schools and

students, received the SIM Impact Award.

Riverbank has adopted and incorporated

numerous components of the Strategic

Instruction Model throughout the school.

Randy Sprick, lead author of the Safe and Civil Schools series, received the Gordon R.

Alley Partnership Award. Through his work

with CRL, he has repeatedly demonstrated

the generosity and collaborative nature the

award is intended to honor. Read profiles

of all three award recipients on the Center’s

Web site: www.kucrl.org/conferences/sim.

The McNair Scholars Program was

in full swing this summer. Fifteen under-

graduate students conducted research

projects with the guidance of their faculty

mentors. In addition, the students received

GRE test preparation, interacted with guest

speakers at several colloquia, and served as

guest lecturers in an Upward Bound class-

room. The culminating activity occurred

as students presented their research at the

McNair Research Symposium where repre-

sentatives from TRIO programs, the School

of Education, other academic departments

and the Honors Program were in atten-

dance. The students’ research projects

covered a variety of topics including media

bias in the Mexican presidential elections of

2006, the role of religion in the “Bleeding

Kansas” conflicts, the effectiveness of

lifestyle changes in treating depression,

mosque architecture as viewed through the

work of a Somali designer, and tube forma-

tion in the worm C-elegans.

The Summer Research Internship was

the first opportunity for many of the stu-

dents to conduct research, teach and receive

mentorship from a KU faculty member. By

the end of the summer, the scholars were

prepared to enter and succeed in graduate

school.

The University of Kansas Talent Search Program sponsored their 13th annual

Career Horizons Summer Program on the

KU campus in June. Forty-two 6th graders

from the Kansas City, Kan., area partici-

pated in a six-day summer camp to learn

about careers, science and computers.

SIM professional developers Conn Thomas,

Amarillo, Texas; and Patty Brus, Cody, Wyo., look

over treasure maps.

Monique Mack, McNair scholar, confers with her

faculty mentor, Shane Lopez (associate professor,

PRE) before her presentation.

3

T

Activities included hands-on science exper-

iments (e.g., dissecting pig hearts, learning

about ecology), making inspirational career

hats, visiting the University Career Center,

designing a newsletter, learning about com-

puter technology, climbing the rock wall in

the Student Recreation Center, and more.

Many of the Talent Search participants

are from low-income families where neither

parent earned a four-year degree. Students

engage in college and career activities

throughout the academic year, and Talent

Search helps students reach their academic

dreams. This free program has served the

Kansas City, Kan., area since 1989.

The KU Senior Academy marked anoth-

er successful on-campus experience July

7-20 for 25 Kansas City urban high school

seniors. In the three years that the Senior

Academy has been conducted, more than

70 Kansas City-area students have learned

economic and entrepreneurial concepts and

the importance of using this knowledge in

setting their college and career goals.

The curriculum of the Academy focuses

on three questions: Who Am I? Where

Am I Going? and How Will I Get There?

Students in the program analyze their own

human capital, research careers and col-

leges that align with their interests and

human capital, and outline a strategic plan

to accomplish their career goals. Students

visit several businesses, hear from local

business leaders and gain perspective on

today’s job market. This summer, students

visited the KU School of Medicine. Guest

speakers included Emmy award winner

and KCMO Channel 5 reporter Ty Chandler

who shared her entrepreneurial experi-

ences. Additionally, the students worked on

a project to develop a business plan to solve

a need in their community.

The 2007 KU Senior Academy is a

program of the University of Kansas Center

for Economic Education with funding from

the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Professors Barbara Phipps and Tom

Krieshok provided the academic leadership

and are currently researching the impact

of the program on student economic,

entrepreneurial and career knowledge.

The KU Summer Institute in Economic Education, sponsored by the KU Center for

Economic Education, is in its 12th year of

teaching economic concepts and methods

to Kansas teachers in the framework of

local or state history. This summer, 18 K-12

teachers enrolled in the two-week intensive

experience focusing on teaching about the

Kansas City economy, past and present.

Highlights of this summer’s Institute,

taught at the Edwards Campus, included a

talk by former Kansas City councilman and

mayoral candidate, Alvin Brooks; behind-

the-scenes tours of the Kansas Speedway

and the Kansas City Star urban production

facility; and a day at the Federal Reserve

Bank. Frank Lenk, economist at the

Mid-America Regional Council, gave an

overview and forecast of the Kansas City

metro area economy. Kansas City historian

Ron Miriani led a day-long trolley tour of

historical sites significant in the city’s

economic development.

The Cloud L. Cray Foundation provides

annual support for the Center to offer this

program to northeast Kansas teachers.

Topics are offered on a rotating basis.

Made in the Shade Faculty and Staff Summer ProjectsJohn L Rury (professor, ELPS)In July and early August, I traveled to Atlanta, Ga., and Raleigh/Chapel Hill, N.C., to research the development of black high schools during the 1940s-1950s. Along with my collaborator, Shirley Hill, professor from the Department of Sociology, I conducted interviews with former students and did archival research at a number of libraries. We also did some work in Kansas City, which we’ll be continuing this year. This summer was the start of a two-year project titled, “Narrowing the Attainment Gap: The Growth of African American Secondary Education, 1940-1970,” funded by the Spencer Foundation. Julie Shaftel (director, Center for Psychoeducational Services)I taught a summer course, “Development of Cross-Cultural Competence,” to undergraduate students studying in Italy. The four-week summer program for students in business, journalism and communication studies attracts students from many large universities including Rutgers, Virginia Tech, Purdue, Iowa State and KU. Course content included exercises, readings and activities about the subject, and, of course, field trips and exploration of Italy and Italian culture.

Phillip Vardiman (assistant professor, HSES, clinical coordinator, athletic training education)David Carr (assistant professor, HSES) and I were invited to present at the Emergency Medicine Seminar for EMTs and paramedics in the state of Kansas, host-ed by the Kansas Athletic Trainers Society and held at KU in July. David presented on lower leg and ankle injuries, and I presented on comotio cordis, cardiac emergencies in athletes, asthma and heat illness.

James D. LaPoint (associate professor, HSES)Leon Greene (assistant profesor, HSES) and I completed our 27th summer of directing the KU Sports Skills and Fitness Program sponsored by the HSES department. More than 6,500 children have participated in this pro-gram in the 27 years we have run it. Many of the children of SOE faculty and staff members have been participants in the program. My granddaughter and Leon’s grandson were participants this year for the first time.

Rud Turnbull (professor, SPED, co-director, Beach Center on Disability)Adjunct professor Mian Wang (Ph.D., 2003), intern John Muller (Yale Law School), and I lectured at the Beijing International Education Forum in July, taught seminars at Beijing Union University, Chongqing Normal University and East China Normal University. The trip was my third in four years as part of a program of inter-China/American special education research and leadership development.

Jean P. Hall (assistant research professor, CRL)I attended the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting in Orlando, Fla., in June, where I presented a poster and a session titled, “Health Insurance and the Disability Trajectory.” My husband, 12-year-old triplets and I managed to squeeze in visits to all four Disney theme parks and a launch of the space shuttle while there.

4

Sixth graders explored the KU campus, careers and

hands-on science this summer in Talent Search’s

Career Horizons Summer Program.

Teachers at the Summer Institute in Economic Education learned about the Kansas City economy.

As part of the University of Kansas Math and Science Center Summer Institute, 40 high school students from

the University of Kansas Math and Science

Center convene for six weeks each sum-

mer on the KU campus to get a taste and

preview of college life. They reside in a

residence hall and receive instruction in

math, science, English, a foreign language

and other elective courses. This summer,

students took courses in math, chemistry,

physics, German, English and leadership.

Students also had the opportunity to par-

ticipate in cultural, social and educational

excursions such as attending a performance

at Starlight Theatre, ice skating, visiting the

University of Missouri–Colombia and the

University of St. Mary’s, and shadowing a

professional in the career of their interest

to gain better understanding.

Students who participate gain knowledge

of college culture, expectations and student

life, and they become acclimated to the

college environment. In addition, they are

made aware of the abundance of student

support offices that are available to help

them succeed.

This summer, like the last three

summers, the Kansas Reading Academy

brought together 500 K-3, Title I,

special education and ESL teachers from

all across the state of Kansas for profes-

sional development in teaching reading in

early elementary grades. Teachers gathered

in Salina, Wichita and Topeka for a week

to learn research-based assessments and

strategies that can be used with students to

improve reading achievement.

Teachers learn things such as the

components of language and how to

create opportunities for language use in

the classroom; the four levels of phono-

logical awareness and in which level it is

most crucial that beginning readers have

proficiency; the story elements of a nar-

rative text and strategies that improve

comprehension of narrative text; the text

structures of expository text and strategies

to improve comprehension of expository

text; the three components of fluency; the

strategy of direct, rich and lively vocabulary

instruction; and much, much more.

As the week concludes, the teachers are

asked to write an action plan for imple-

menting three strategies that they learned

when they return to their classrooms in

the fall. These teachers will also have the

opportunity to get together again during

ITV sessions that we offer throughout the

school year. Check out our Web site at

www.kansasreadingfirst.org for more

information.

We also kicked off a new advising sys-

tem this summer through the School of Education Advising Center. We were anx-

ious to meet the students who will continue

to advise with us throughout their entire

career here in the School of Education. Our

first encounter was a two-day orientation

that guided brand-new freshmen through

what their lives will be like as School of

Education students. The first day, we gave

a presentation about admissions require-

ments, possible career options, and many

other nooks and crannies of the school.

The second day, we were down to the

nitty-gritty of hammering out a fall

semester schedule for students. We were

able to give students one-on-one atten-

tion to answer their questions and help

them feel confident about the year ahead.

Transfer students who have experience in

college but not at the University of Kansas

were just as eager to organize their fall

schedules. We spent one day with transfer

students, helping them feel assured about

their success in this new environment.

After advising more than 500 students

from throughout the country, we are

thrilled to start the new year and to foster

the individual connections we were able to

make with students.

Susan M. Bashinski (research assistant professor, Beach Center) I served as a visiting professor at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, visiting several schools and completing informal assessments of students who were suspected of having concurrent vision and hear-ing loss. I also taught a class on deaf-blindness where students included the province’s minister of education.

Jim Ellis (associate professor, C&T)Janis Bulgren (associate research professor, CRL) and I conducted a summer institute for our National Science Foundation research project to collaborate with our research team of seven middle school science teachers from Lawrence, Topeka, Shawnee Mission and Kansas City, Kan., public schools. The project will develop a set of professional resources for middle-level science teachers to promote the knowledge and abilities of scientific reasoning — specifically, scientific argumentation — in their students.

Cynthia Akagi (assistant professor, HSES)I redesigned the Kansas Health Teacher Web site, www.kshealthteacher.org. The site will be showcased for Kansas K-12 health teachers at the Kansas Association of Health Physical Education, Recreation and Dance convention in Emporia on November 8-9.

Sally Roberts (associate professor, SPED, associate dean)Joe Heppert, Jan Lariviere (associate director, Center for Science Education) and I represented KU at the University of Texas in June. Our proposal, the UKanTeach grant, was a finalist for submission to the National Math and Science Institute, with funding from Exxon Mobil.

Kelli R. Thomas (assistant professor, C&T)Juliet Hart (visiting assistant professor, SPED) and I presented two papers at the 13th International Confer-ence on the Teaching of Mathematical Modeling and Applications (ICTMA13) at the University of Indiana, Bloomington, Ind., in July. One of our sessions was selected to be the interactive videocast session of the day. The presentation was videocast live to a simultaneous conference in Uganda, Africa. The attendees in Uganda were able to ask questions and participate in the live session discussion.

Barbara A. Kerr (Williamson Family Distinguished Professor of Counseling Psychology, PRE)Counseling psychology doctoral students had an international learning opportunity this summer without leaving the farm. Twenty Italian business executives enrolled in KU’s CIMBA Executive Program met with counseling students for a day of coaching, equine assisted team-building and a feast of local food at my farm in Eudora, Kan. Counseling students provided coaching mini sessions to help the executives set their goals for their week of management training in the U.S. Chris Brown, equine specialist, and I demonstrated equine team building, a series of challenging games and activities performed on the ground with a herd of horses. Reva Friedman-Nimz (associate professor, C&T)I presented a session at the annual meeting of Supporting Emotional Needs of the Gifted in Leawood, Kan. My talk was “Done to Perfection? Making Perfectionism a Plus.” Apparently it was a hot topic, as I had about 40 parents at an 8 a.m. session.

5

The KU campus was home for six weeks to high

school students as they previewed college life.

Editor’s note: These comments were delivered by Phil McKnight, the 2006-2007 Gene A. Budig Teaching Professor in Education, at the 16th annual School of Education convocation on May 19 at the Lied Center.

orty-four years ago, I stood at

a podium in the Student Union

Ballroom at the University of

Kansas as vice president of the senior class

of 1963. I read my editorial from the com-

mencement newspaper that I had prepared

for the occasion, reflecting on who we were

and what lay ahead for us after graduation.

I noted that we had a new opportunity, and

a greater obligation, to serve our society

— to return the investment and dedication

of our parents and teachers who had guided

and supported us all of our lives. Teachers

such as Oscar Haugh, professor of educa-

tion and recipient of the first HOPE Award.

Parents such as yours. The editorial went

as follows:

“Today marks the culminations of the

priceless gift of higher education. We have

fulfilled the opportunity and its implied

challenges successfully, as symbolized by

cap and gown. But the mark of this achieve-

ment lies within. The diploma can be seen

on the wall, but the permanent signs of the

four years cannot be seen. We have been

given the tools, and have served a four-year

apprenticeship. Henceforth, we will show

that we ‘know how.’ We will have a chance to

prove that the hopes of those who will watch

us graduate this evening will be honored.

“More than an opportunity, however, we

have an obligation. An obligation to serve.

I say serve because only through service to

traditions greater than ourselves may we be

free. Freedom is found through service and

obedience. Let us serve what has been estab-

lished as right, whether it be the institutions

of integrity and justice, or the traditions of

honesty and truth. To refuse this duty will be

to diminish what we have become.

“Some say that we are stepping into a

very cold world. But, hasn’t the world always

been hard? If the world was supposed to

be like Heaven, then we would have cause

to lament our plight, but it simply is not

Heaven. It is the world. And has it really

gotten worse? Is there any difference

between destruction from a caldron of hot

tar poured over a battlement and a caldron

of death dropped from the sky? If we wish

for total disarmament, we must not only

take away all clubs, but remove all combat-

ants’ arms and legs (though I imagine that

men would then fight with their teeth).

Were the good old days really good? Would

anyone choose to live in the ‘Lawless West?’

Do we realize what is meant by Lawless?

“These times are not the worst of all

possible worlds. The scenery has changed

over the years, but the actors are the same.

The challenges, and the obligations to

meet those challenges, are still there. The

frontiers are more subtle than the next hill

of the past, and therefore more demanding

in their challenge. We know our challenges

and we are both prepared and duty bound to

meet them. Commencement: a French word

for ‘beginning.’ Let us begin.”

So today, 44 years later, at your

commencement, what thoughts about your

future as citizens and teachers might I

pass along to you? To begin, the next time

you attend a ceremony like this, you will

have moved from the students’ side of the

teacher’s desk to the other side — a few

short steps after a long journey. A simple

walk with enormous significance for you

and for the thousands of students whose

lives will be changed forever because of

you. And the walk to the front of the class

officially begins today when you proceed to

this stage, wearing a ceremonial robe just

like those of us up here are wearing. That is

to say, you, us — we are all teachers, every

one of us. Different kinds of classrooms,

different “to-do” lists. But we are all teach-

ers, hopeful about making a difference in

the lives of the students whom we serve.

Second, at that future ceremony, you will

be tired. A good kind of tired, but tired — as

are all teachers this time of year. Of course,

some who do not teach will wonder, with

three “vacation” months ahead, how you

could be tired? Well, let me tell you some-

thing. Those three-month vacations exist in

our memories of the fifth grade. Summers

now are 10 weeks of putting away the past

year, working on school and district curricu-

lum committees, getting ready for the fall, etc.

What teachers need, of course, are three sum-

mers for every one that exists: one summer to

rest from nine months of five preps and 150

students a day, one summer to be with your

family and friends, and one to prepare for the

fall. On this point, recall that the definition

of leisure is not laziness. In Joseph Pieper’s

book, Leisure as the Basis of Culture, leisure is

defined as the time to think, to create.

No Trivial Pursuits

2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 7 G E N E A . B U D I G T E A C H I N G P R O F E S S O R I N E D U C A T I O N C O L U M N

6

—by Phil McKnight

F

T E A C H I N G N O T E S

Third, note that you are taking your

place in society as a servant leader, working

to enhance the academic growth and

personal well being of others, young and

old. Teachers are citizens trying to

preserve and advance our civilization.

And, remember that civilization is a thin

veneer. There are no guarantees of its

advancement, or even its preservation.

Not so long ago the civilization of Goethe,

Bach and Beethoven became the Germany

of tyranny and terror. Overnight.

Fourth, be kind to yourselves. For

example, you do not have to grade every-

thing that your students do. And, save your

Saturdays for yourselves and your families.

Finally, you will soon be a credentialed

professional — which means that you can

claim only a limited expertise. As much

as you might like to be all things to your

clients, you cannot. And you must not try

to do so. See the National Educational

Association code of ethics about this.

So — your calling is complex, complicated

and extremely important to your society.

You must not engage in trivial pursuits.

There is too much at stake — perhaps more

than in 1963.

As he fled the Communist burning of

Shanghai, a missionary wrote a poem that

sums up the thoughts far more eloquently

than can I:

Tonight Shanghai is burning

And I am dying, too.

But there’s no death more certain

Than the death inside of you.

Some men die of shrapnel,

Some go down in flames.

But most men die, inch by inch,

Who play at little games.

Best wishes and Godspeed.

Phil McKnight, Ph.D., professor, C&T, joined the School of Education in 1971. In his time at KU, he has also been very involved with the Western Civilization department, serving as a distinguished lecturer of its honors sections. Former students may remember, as did one, “his glorious fourth floor office/library/warren in Bailey, which though the subject of some comment, represented nirvana to more than a few graduate students on the verge of a mindstorm.”

Secondary School Teachers Awarded for Teaching Excellence

f o u r t e a c h e r s were honored with a new award in May — the Wolfe Teaching Excellence

Award. The Wolfe Family Foundation established the distinction to recognize excellence in

secondary school teaching through nominations from all KU undergraduate seniors.

A committee of faculty and students from the School of Education and the College of Liberal

Arts and Sciences reviewed nominations from the students, then statements from the

teachers along with recommendations from their principals to select the winners. The teachers,

who did not have to be KU graduates, were recognized at several events, including the School

of Education convocation on May 19.

John Olson (Ph.D., 2003), a physics teacher at Free State High School

in Lawrence, Kan., was nominated by Charlie Pye. Pye wrote: “Despite

teaching a field that most high school students consider painfully dull,

he managed to find countless ways of making us interested. It is

particularly surprising that he managed to keep me interested,

because at the time I hardly liked anything academic. I particularly

hated math, and there is a great deal of math in physics. Nevertheless,

his physics class quickly became my favorite class in high school.”

Olson is pictured at left with Dean Rick Ginsberg.

Marvin Smith, a chemistry teacher and coach at Iola High School in Iola, Kan., was nominated

by School of Education student Suni Haberland. She wrote: “Marv had a way about him that

made him my inspiration. He was a difficult teacher and made me work hard in his classroom;

he refused to hold my hand and guide me to success. What he did do, on the other hand, was to

provide me with the ground work necessary to become not only good at chemistry and running,

but how to become a good college student.”

Michael Ortmann, a social studies teacher at Lawrence High School in Lawrence, Kan., was

nominated by Lauren Poull. In her nomination, she wrote: “It was not only his gift for making the

essentials of writing and studying more clear that made Mr. Ortmann an outstanding teacher.

He had unique enthusiasm for his job which was made evident by the creative activities and

assignments that he made a part of his class. He brought significant amounts of supplementary

information for each chapter we covered, ranging from slides of trips he had taken to the parts

of the world we studied, to objects that illustrated the time period, to original essays written

by the people we were reading about. He was extremely well read, and his anecdotes brought

the material to life. There were even days when he greeted us at the door to his classroom in

period costume.”

Dave Woesthaus, an art teacher at Althoff Catholic High School, Belleville, Ill., was nominated

by Andrew Miller. Miller said, “He’s intense but in a different way. He’s so devoted to his

students. He doesn’t push what he wants. He inspires you.”

7

R E S E A R C H R E P O R T

Laser beams firing. Engines revving. Cheers of the

victorious. These are sounds you just don’t hear every day

on campus — unless you happen by the second floor in the

north wing of Joseph R. Pearson Hall.

The Advanced Learning Technologies in Education

Consortium (ALTEC), whose offices are located there, has

ongoing initiatives to develop and support games in education.

ALTEC is a member of the national MATRIX Learning Project

funded by the U.S. Department of Education Star Schools

program to create games and simulations to teach middle

school mathematics in underperforming urban and rural areas.

KU’s ALTEC Creates Video Games for Classroom Use

—by Doug Adams

PLAY

8

Pushing

ARCADEMIC BUILDERS

PLAY

MULTIPLICATION

But don’t kids spend enough time playing games?

Many researchers argue that’s exactly

why schools need to make greater use

of games in the classroom. Children

are playing video games — whether on

the computer or on a dedicated “console”

like the Sony PlayStation or the Nintendo

Wii — more than any other leisure activity.

Just as television and movies in the

20th century spawned children who were

content to sit and watch a screen, video

games are creating a generation of kids who

want to actively participate and create their

own entertainment.

Games are also challenging in a way that

students appreciate. People are not usually

excited about doing difficult things —

a problem to which all teachers and parents

can relate. Dr. James Gee of Arizona State

University writes that schools have tradi-

tionally used two methods of getting

students to do difficult work: either force

them or make the work less challenging.

Yet neither option is open to video game

designers, who can’t force people to play their

games and who recognize that most gamers

don’t want short, easy-to-finish games.

Dr. Henry Jenkins of MIT’s “Education

Arcade” initiative puts it this way:

“Students will complain if a homework

assignment is too hard. But they will

complain when a game is too easy.”

The work at ALTEC was initially based

on the Arcademic Skill Builders games that

began back in the early days of computer

gaming. Drs. Jerry Chaffin and Barbara

Thompson of the Department of Special

Education at KU designed some of the first

educational game software on the market.

Created for home computers of the 1980s,

these programs used theories of learning

dealing with “automaticity” and “fluency”

to help students learn basic math and

language arts skills. The Arcademic games

were popular for many years, until the

progression of technology and game design

left them behind.

Recently, however, Chaffin and

Thompson and colleagues began the resur-

rection of the games for a new audience.

The Arcademic games are being rewritten

and redesigned to run using Adobe Flash,

a technology that allows them to be played

using a Web browser such as Internet

Explorer, Firefox or Opera. They can even

be played on a Nintendo Wii, using the

wireless connection built in to that console.

Students who play the Arcademic games

are challenged to respond quickly to prob-

lems over a series of short, timed trials.

The goal is to make the students fluent in

the skills being practiced — skills like addi-

tion, subtraction, subject-verb agreement,

and parts of speech. As students play more

and their rate of response increases, their

error rate decreases until eventually they

can solve the problems automatically. A

new multiplayer game called Grand Prix

Multiplication even allows students to play

against each other on different computers.

Arcademic Skill Builders are free and

can be played over any Web browser

that has Flash capability. To check them

out, see http://arcademicskillbuilders.com.

ALTEC’s MATRIX (Middle-school

Achievement through Technology-Rich

Interventions) Project is developing inter-

active games and simulations for middle

school math programs that can be accessed

through the Internet or downloaded to a

mobile device. The project is a partnership

among K-16 organizations in Ohio, Kansas,

New Mexico and California. ALTEC and

the Center for Research on Learning are

working together to create Flash games

including a multiplayer game called Matrix

Racer, and videos that target the under-

standing of math vocabulary. Some of the

early design of games by the MATRIX

Project were based on Chaffin’s Arcademic

games. Additional components in the

program include the use of virtual reality

to build scale models and artificial intel-

ligence tutors to help students understand

the process of asking effective questions to

solving math problems. ALTEC is conduct-

ing field tests of Matrix Learning products

in supplemental middle school math classes

in Lawrence and afterschool programs

in Wichita, Kan. Learn more about these

Matrix Learning projects by visiting

http://matrixlearning.org.

As ALTEC moves forward in the develop-

ment of games and virtual environments

for education, the hope is that teachers and

administrators will incorporate games into

their curriculum as more than just time-

filler activities or rewards for completing

classwork early. Games have the potential

to challenge students in a way they under-

stand and respond to. Games can stimulate

higher-order thinking skills and can expose

students to situations that could not easily

be replicated in the classroom.

Most of all, games are fun — like learning

should be.

Douglas Adams, M.S.Ed, received a bachelor’s degree in history from KU in 1990 and his master’s degree in ecational psychology and research with emphasis on gifted education in 1995, also from KU, where he has worked as a professional development special-ist for 13 years. He worked for the South Central R*TEC from 1995 to 2000 and was a co-director of the High Plains R*TEC from 2000 to 2005. Currently an associate director of ALTEC, Adams assists with professional development in the field of educational technology integration and planning. He has presented at a variety of national and regional conferences, complementing his love for travel.

9

Students who play the Arcademic games are challenged to respond quickly to problems over a series of short, timed trials. The goal is to make students fluent in the skills being practiced.

Andrew Fry (chair and professor, HSES) spent the last 13 years as director of the Exercise Biochemistry Laboratory at the University of Memphis. After completing his under- graduate degree and his collegiate wrestling career at Nebraska Wesleyan University,

Fry received a master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a doctorate from Pennsylvania State University. He began his research career at Memphis following post-doctoral study at Ohio University. Fry’s research emphasis has consis-tently focused on the skeletal muscle and hormonal responses and adaptations to resistance exercise, overtraining and dietary supplements. He has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, as well as nearly 200 scientific presentations. Fry is a past member of the board of directors for the 30,000-member National Strength and Conditioning Association where he recently served a term as vice-president.

Mary Fry (associate professor, HSES) comes to the University of Kansas from the University of Memphis where she was a faculty member and direc-tor of the Sport and Exercise Psychology Lab since 1994. She completed a doctorate at Purdue University with an emphasis on sport psychology, a master’s

degree with an emphasis on sport psychology from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Texas Wesleyan College. Fry’s research focuses on maximiz-ing youngsters’ motivation in physical activity settings. She has utilized an achievement motivation framework to investigate the benefits of youngsters perceiving the environment to be one where coaches and teachers emphasize effort, improvement and fun. Most recently she worked with colleagues to create an assessment of a caring environment and its impact on children in sport and exercise settings.

Heidi Hallman (assistant professor, C&T) joins the faculty after recently completing a doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction with an empha-sis on English education at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She received a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction in 2003 and a bachelor’s degree

in secondary English education in 1999, both also from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Hallman’s research interests include adolescents’ contexts of language and literacy development, pre-service teacher preparation, curriculum studies, and “at-risk” learners. Her teaching responsibilities at KU include teaching courses in the English education program.

David Hansen (assistant professor, PRE) completed a doctoral degree in 2001 in human and community develop-ment at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) where he also spent the follow-ing two years as a postdoctoral associate. Since then, he worked

as a visiting assistant professor at UIUC. Hansen earned a master’s degree in developmental psychol-ogy in 1997 from Illinois State University. His research focuses on the processes of psychological, social and emotional growth during adolescence — primarily through organized youth activities (including extra-curricular school activities and community-based programs) and part-time employment. Hansen is particularly interested in the measurement and development of “strategic planning” (a component of initiative or agency) among adolescents.

Young-Jin Lee (assistant professor, ELPS) completed a doctorate in educational com-puting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2003. He then worked at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications as a visiting senior research programmer and

mostly recently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a research associate. Lee’s research interests include the educational use of innovative computer technologies such as intelligent tutoring systems, efficient tutoring in e-Learning environments, informal mathematics and science learning, and con-structivist learning environments. He will be teaching courses in the areas of educational technology and computer-supported collaborative learning.

Meagan Patterson (assistant professor, PRE) joins our faculty with a research interest in understanding the formation and consequences of social stereotypes, including the factors that contribute to the development of social stereotypes and prejudice,

and the ways in which children integrate their views of themselves with views of their social groups. Patterson earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology and linguistics from the University of North Carolina in 2001, a master’s in developmental psychology from the University of Texas in 2004, and a doctorate in developmental psychology from the University of Texas in 2007.

Argun Saatcioglu (assistant professor, ELPS) recently completed a doctorate in organization theory and behavior at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned a master’s degree in the same area from the University of Hartford and a

bachelor’s degree from Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey. Saatcioglu’s research interests include the new institutionalism in organization theory, the sociol-ogy of education focusing particularly on urban school systems, and the politics of school desegregation and resegregation in the U.S. He will be teaching courses in the social foundations of education and advanced organization theory.

Matthew Schrager (assistant professor, HSES) joins the School of Education faculty as an assistant professor in exercise physiology and biomechanics. In 2003, he completed a doc-torate in kinesiology with an emphasis on exercise physiology at the University of Maryland.

He recently completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Aging. Schrager earned a bachelor’s degree in French from Grinnell College in Iowa and a master’s degree in exercise physiology from Indiana University. His research interests include genetic and inflammatory mechanisms of aging- associated losses in skeletal muscle and the func-tional consequences of these losses. In addition, he has recently begun exploring exercise and nutritional interventions that are targeted at maintaining functional independence in older individuals.

Phillip Vardiman (assistant professor, HSES) has been with the University of Kansas for two years. He is moving from an instructor position in the department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences to an assistant professor appointment where he will be clinical coordi-

nator for the athletic training education program. Prior to arriving at KU in 2005, Vardiman was an assistant athletic trainer and faculty member in the Department of Health, Kinesiology, Recreation and Dance at the University of Arkansas. He has been a certified athletic trainer since 1996 and has been teaching athletic training classes at the undergraduate and graduate level since 1997. He completed a doctor-ate in kinesiology with a concentration in exercise science in December 2006 from the University of Arkansas; a master’s degree in health, physical education and leisure with an emphasis on exercise science from Oklahoma State University; and a bachelor’s degree in athletic training from Park University. Vardiman’s research emphasizes the immune response to exercise and the incidence of upper respiratory tract infection in athletes.

New Tenure Track Faculty Appointments

10

Deb Elder, project coordinator of the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service, recently received the president’s gavel at the National Community Education Association annual conference in Reno.

Elder has held an active role in connecting schools and communities as a middle school teacher, building principal of a K-8 and K-5 building, as the current network manager for the Kansas Enrichment Network, and as a current instructor for a required teacher-prep course, “Making Connections between Schools and Community,” at the University of Kansas. She was also honored with the Space Science Achievement Award from the United Space Alliance as the first civilian involving the community in a space science project.

Elder says, “...education is the passport to an individual’s success. Afterschool is a key connector between the regular day and community assets to break down non-cognitive learning barriers. Learning is a part of everyone’s daily lives, and we must provide opportunities for all community members to have access to learning tools and resources. The benefit is individual progress and community social and economic impact.”

Julia O’Dell, associate director of the School of Education’s Veterans Upward Bound (VUB), recently was elected to a two-year term as president of the National Association of Veterans Upward Bound Project Personnel during the organization’s annual confer-ence in Reno, Nev. As president, she serves as the chief executive officer of the association.

VUB is an educational program designed specifically to serve the needs of today’s veterans. There are 39 VUB programs in the U.S., serving approximately 5,000 participants. VUB is a federally funded TRIO program designed to assist military veterans who are low-income or first generation college students by providing instruction and advising focused on increasing the skills and motivation neces-sary to enter and succeed in a postsecondary education program.

Julia has been employed with VUB since the program began at KU in 1999. Each year, the University of Kansas VUB serves 120 participants from the Kansas City metro area including Jackson, Cass and Clay counties in Missouri, and Wyandotte and Leavenworth counties in Kansas.

Two former chairs of the Department of Health, Sport and Exercise Sciences recently were inducted into the Kansas Relays Hall of Fame. Forrest C. “Phog” Allen and Wayne Osness received the honor in conjunction with the 80th Anniversary of the Relays.

Allen, who replaced Dr. James Naismith as chair of the physical education department in 1937, served in that capacity until his retirement in 1956. It was Allen who spurred creation of the first Kansas Relays in 1923 with more than 600 athletes from across the nation participating.

Osness was a member of the HSES faculty from 1966 to 2002 and chair of the department for 25 years. Following retirement, he remains a worldwide authority on exercise physiology and the biological aging process, especially as it is affected by exercise. His love and knowledge of track and field, particularly the throwing events, is evidenced by over 40 years as a lead official at the Kansas Relays and at other championship events nationwide.

Allen and Osness have joined other distinguished Jayhawks such as Wes Santee, Billy Mills, Jim Ryun, Bill Easton and Bob Timmons as members of the Relays Hall of Fame.

John Poggio and Doug Glasnapp, co-directors of the Center for Educational Testing and Evaluation, were honored June 5 by Dale Dennis, interim education commissioner for the state of Kansas, for helping write, administer, prepare, score and study state assessment exams for millions of Kansas students over nearly three decades.

Glasnapp and Poggio began working together on state assessment exams 27 years ago at KU. Today, 75 percent of students take assess-ments online.

“Tests are tools,” Poggio explains, speaking to how much has changed about testing over the years. “We don’t allow them to make judgments about children. They’re a partnership between students, the teacher in the classroom and the administrators.”

Read more about the exciting work of CETE in the accompanying Annual Report.

During the 16th Annual School of Education convocation May 19, Arlene Lundmark Barry (associate professor, C&T) received the 2007-2008 Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship in Education. Donald Deshler (professor, SPED, director, CRL) received the 2007-2008 Gene A. Budig Teaching Professorship in Special Education. Gene Budig, KU’s chancellor from 1981 through 1994, established these professorships to recognize outstanding teaching.

Kelli Thomas (assistant professor, C&T) received the Geiger Gould Teaching Award. The award was established by the family of Meredith Geiger Gould, a 1928 graduate of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, to honor the undergraduate teaching faculty in the teacher education program at KU. Each spring, students receiving a bachelor’s degree in teacher education select the professor who best exhibits excellence in classroom teaching.

At the School of Education year-end banquet on May 18, Suzanne Rice (associate professor, C&T) and Wayne Sailor (professor, SPED, associate director, Beach Center on Disability) received the School of Education Faculty Achievement Awards for Research. The Faculty Achievement Award for Service was presented to Diane Nielsen (associate professor, C&T). Bruce Frey (associate professor, PRE) received the Faculty Achievement Award for Teaching.

Also at the banquet, Laurie Leiker Winter received the 2007 School of Education Unclassified Staff Achievement Award. Winter directs Reading First, an initiative of the Institute for Educational Research and Public Service. The School of Education University Support Staff Achievement Award was given to Sheryl Lang, an accountant with the Institute.

Hats Off to Our Faculty and Staff

11

12

i n a d d i t i o n to hundreds of papers, pre-sentations and book chapters, School of Education faculty and staff have published a number books covering a wide range of subjects — including child development, classroom management, positive psychology, statistics and the history of education.

Here are just a few of the many books authored in the last three years.

Rick Ginsberg, dean of the School of Education, and Timothy Gray Davies use real-life examples from academic and non-academic situations to examine the emotional side of leader-ship and demonstrate its effects on individual and organizational perfor-mance in The Human Side of Leadership: Navigating

Emotions at Work. The authors identify successful coping mechanisms and self-awareness and how they apply to communication, decision-making, problem solving and performance improvement in the workplace. The book was published by Praeger Publications.

SAGE Publications named Positive Psychology: The Scientific and Practical Explorations of Human Strengths as the SAGE Best New Book of the Year for 2006. The book was written by the late C.R. “Rick” Snyder of the KU Department of Psychology and Shane Lopez (associ-ate professor, PRE).

The book provides a comprehensive review of literature, case histories, and exer-cises and strategies to apply positive psychology to the readers’ lives.

John Rury (professor, ELPS) collects significant accounts of essays dealing with urban schooling in Urban Education in the United States: A Historical Reader. The book covers more than 200 years,

with accounts from the earliest “common schools” in New York City to 1998 voucher schools in Milwaukee, Wis. Published by Palgrave Macmillan.

The 2006 book by Bruce Frey (associate professor, PRE), Statistics Hacks: Tips & Tools for Measuring the World and Beating the Odds, presents use-ful — and humorous — techniques from statistics, educational and psychological measurement, and experimental research to help solve a variety of problems in business, games and life. One example given by the author: Demystify amazing coinci-dences and distinguish the truly random from the only seemingly random — even keep an iPod’s “random” shuffle honest. Published by O’Reilly Media.

Robert Harrington (associate professor, PRE) and Leticia Holub present conflicting views in a debate-style format in Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Classroom Management. Topics include: Is Student Restraint Ever Justifiable? Does Zero Tolerance Work? Are Culturally Sensitive Practices Attainable? Published by McGraw-Hill Contemporary Learning Series.

Statistics for People Who (Think They) Hate Statistics...The Excel Edition, by Neil Salkind (professor, PRE) and Encyclopedia of Measurement and Statistics, Vol.1 that he edited provide guidance to academics and students who need clear and compre-hensive information about statistics and measurement. Salkind goes beyond num-bers in An Introduction to Theories of Human Development, which was

also recently pub-lished in Greek. The book gives a comprehensive view of the primary theories of human development including those from the biological, psychoanalytic, behavioral and cognitive developmental

perspectives. All books were published by Sage Publications.

Don Deshler (professor, SPED, direc-tor, Center for Research on Learning) has

co-authored a number of books with his colleagues. Among them, with Jean Schumaker, who recently retired from CRL, is Teaching Adolescents with Disabilities: Accessing the General Education Curriculum. Another, with A.S. Palincsar, G. Biancarosa, and M. Nair, is Informed Choices for Struggling Adolescents: A

Research-Based Guide to Instructional Programs and Practices, published under the aegis of the International Reading Association. Both books present research-validated strategies that are proven to be effective for adolescents with disabilities. Another book, Teaching Content to All: Evidenced Practices for Middle and High School Settings with Keith Lenz (associ-ate professor, SPED) and Brenda Kissam, was published by Allyn & Bacon. Lenz and Deshler also co-authored Teaching Content to All: Inclusive Teaching in Grades 4-12, published by McGraw-Hill.

Exceptional Children in Today’s Schools: What Teachers Need to Know is the fourth edition of Edward L.

Meyen’s text for introduc-tory special education courses. This current edi-tion combines a print version with online interactive learning opportunities. Meyen (profes-sor, SPED) and his co-author, Yvonne N. Bui, who received her doctorate from the department in 2002, also provide self-

assessment and reflections questions to give immediate feedback to students using the

These Folks Have the Write Idea

text and e-book. Three associate pro-fessors in the Department of Special Education contributed chapters to the edition — Brenda Myles, Sally Roberts (also associate dean) and Sean Smith. Published by Love Publishing.

Barbara Luetke-Stahlman and Diane Nielsen (associate professor, C&T) begin their book, Deaf Students Can Be Great Readers! Articles on Reading and Deafness and an Annotated Bibliography of Related Research, with an intensive case study of one child. Adopted by Luetke-Stahlman from a Bulgarian orphanage at the age of 4, the young girl was deaf, had no spoken or sign language. The authors follow the story of how the child acquired language, communi-cation and literacy skills with articles on pho-nological awareness, Signing Exact English and an annotated bibliography. Published by Modern Signs Press.

Jim Knight of the Center for Research on Learning (CRL) has authored and co-authored four books in the last few years. Instructional Coaching: A Partnership Approach to Improving Instruction, describes a highly successful method of using instruc-tional coaches to help teachers incorporate research-based instructional practices. The book is published by Corwin Press. Another book, Coaching Classroom Management: Strategies and Tools for Administrators and Coaches, written with Randy Sprick, Wendy Reinke and Tricia McKale, a project coordi-nator in CRL, focuses coaching techniques on classroom management skills. Pacific Northwest Publishing. Knight co-authored The Fundamentals of Paraphrasing and Summarizing: Student Materials with Jean Schumaker and the Instructor’s Manual of the same title with Schumaker and Don Deshler. Both are published by Edge Enterprises.

Finally, and certainly not the end of a list of published works, is a fascinating study by Lisa Wolf-Wendel and Susan Twombly, both professors in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies (Twombly is also the chair of the department), and their co-authors, Kathryn Nemeth Tuttle, Kelly Ward and Joy L. Gaston-Gayles. The book, Reflecting Back, Looking Forward: Civil Rights and Student Affairs, contains 18 first-person narratives obtained from the authors’ interviews of student affairs administrators from the civil rights era.

Editor’s note: All information above is excerpted from the

publishers’ and authors’ descriptions.

t h e 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8 academic year represents a significant milestone for the Department of Special Education as it celebrates five decades of contributions to the lives of persons with disabilities and their families. The department takes great pride in the achievements of its faculty and students throughout their careers as leaders in public education, field research and policy development. Collectively, they have helped shape policy and practice that has improved the quality of life for children and adults with disabilities.

The Department’s Commitment to StudentsThe University of Kansas has one of the most comprehensive special education programs

in the country. These programs are designed to prepare students for leadership roles as teachers, administrators, policy makers, teacher educators and field researchers. Its culture encourages and supports students working with faculty in cutting-edge research and devel-opment related to effective education in the field of disabilities. Collaboration with many research units — such as the Center for Research on Learning, Beach Center on Disability, University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, Schiefelbusch Life Span Institute, and Juniper Gardens Children’s Project — facilitates interdisciplinary learning in the master’s and doctoral degree programs.

The Department’s Commitment to the ProfessionThe University of Kansas is known internationally for innovative special education prac-

tices, field research and contributions to disability public policy. Ongoing work with campus units, field partners, families, U.S. and international universities, and public agencies has created synergy around issues of common concern, generating new ideas and solutions.• Quality Leadership Preparation: The Department has been ranked among the top graduate

programs in the country since the 1970s. Currently U.S. News and World Report places the University of Kansas as the top public special education graduate program in the 2008 annual edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools.”

• Innovative Educational Practice: Departmental research and dissemination activities have influenced effective classroom practice in areas such as academic and behavioral interven-tions, school-to-adult life transition, self determination and technology in teacher education.

• Advancement of Public Policy: The department has influenced major legislative initiatives and national and international public policy related to disabilities and school reform. These efforts have helped change public perceptions about the potential contributions of children and adults with disabilities.

The focus of this year-long celebration will be on the future. Alumni and current students are encouraged to attend a variety of special events, and also submit anecdoes and personal stories for a digital reflection journal. For more information and a complete event calendar, see http://specialeducation.soe.ku.edu.

November 29—50th Anniversary Invited Lecture“Accountability and Performance: When Educational Quality Speaks, Educational Equality Answers”H. George Frederickson, Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, University of KansasAlderson Auditorium, Kansas Memorial Union, 7 p.m.

March 14, 2008—University of Kansas Professionals for Disabilities Student Series: Research to PracticeSteve Graham, Professor and Currey Ingram Chair in Special Education, Vanderbilt UniversityAlderson Auditorium, Kansas Memorial Union, 9 a.m.

May 10, 2008—50th Anniversary Professional Development DayKansas Memorial Union

13

Special Education Celebrates 50 YearsThe Past as Prologue to the Future

14

c o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o these School of Education graduates on their recent achievements:

Mathana Santiwat (Ph.D, 1984), visited Joseph R. Pearson Hall in March. Dr. Santiwat — who, at the time of her visit, was vice presi-dent for academic affairs at Bangkok University in Thailand and had

just been named president of the same institution — has now assumed her new position. Dr. Santiwat earned her doctor-ate in higher education at the School. On her recent stop, she spoke with Dean Rick Ginsberg and her doctoral advisor, Jerry Bailey (associate professor, ELPS).

Jeana L. Magyar-Moe (M.S.Ed., 2000, Ph.D., 2004), assistant profes-sor of counseling psychol-ogy at the University of Wisconsin–Stevens Point (UWSP), received the 2006-2007 UWSP University Scholar Award and a UWSP

University Leadership Mentor Award. She earned her degrees from our Department of Psychology and Research in Education. Magyar-Moe was the distinguished faculty speaker at the fourth annual University Evening, a celebration to recognize UWSP faculty excellence, on September 19. Her presentation was “Ingredients for Human Flourishing: Lessons from Positive Psychology.” Magyar-Moe also was honored with the UWSP University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2005-2006. She says, “I am very honored by all of this and thankful for such great mentors and training at KU!”

John R. Allison (B.S.E., 1987) became the new superintendent of Mt. Lebanon schools in Pittsburgh, Penn., in July. He was deputy superintendent of the Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District in Texas from 2002 to 2007. Prior to that, he served as assistant superintendent in the Shawnee Mission, Kan., School District.

Linda Karen Miller (B.S.E., 1970) has published an e-book,

Put A Little Acting Into Your Teaching, with the National Social Science Press. Miller has won a number of national

awards for teaching. In 1996, the National Council for the Social Studies recognized her as the Outstanding Secondary Teacher. That same year, she received the Mary Kay Bonsteel Tachaeu Award from the

Organization of American Historians. In 2002, the National Peace Corps gave Miller the first National Peace Educator Award. Miller completed master’s and doctoral degrees in education at the University of Virginia. She taught history and govern-ment in Fairfax County, Va., for 30 years. Since 2003, she has taught in the educa-tion department of the College of Southern Nevada–Las Vegas. She has traveled widely — to Australia, Korea, China, Russia and Great Britain — to present and to learn.

Miller’s e-book presents standards-based lessons about how to use drama in the classroom. She says, “Creative drama and theater are powerful teaching tools. As actors portraying people and events of the past, students come to understand cir-cumstances and characters in the context of time and place, and get an in-depth look at a specific time period.” Miller received the Outstanding Alumni Award from the School of Education National Advisory Board in 1999. She continues to support KU through the Las Vegas alumni group.

A L U M N I S P O T L I G H T

Get Your E-news Here!The next issue of The Jayhawk Educator will

be electronic!To save printing and mailing costs, the

Educator will be sent via e-mail every other issue. So look for our magazine in virtual form next time!

You can make sure we have your e-mail by updating your information on the School of Education Web site: www.soe.ku.edu/alumni.

Check there as well for alumni events, school news, and the most recent issue of the online Educator.

The School of Education Wants You

Calling all alumni! We’re reconstituting our National Advisory Board and there’s a place for you.

Please consider participating on the board and serving on one of our committees: Academic Support, Awards, Development, Events, Membership, and Public Relations.

Contact Chris Barritt, cbarritt@ku.edu, 785-864-4297, for more information.

Have You Updated Your Credential File Lately?

Alumni are strongly encouraged to update their credential file with new letters, current address, phone number, etc. periodically — and especially before having your file sent to a potential employer. Keeping your file up to date will allow you to quickly respond to unplanned or unexpected opportunities. If your file is not used or updated within 10 years, it will be destroyed.

You may add new letters of reference to your file at any time, whether or not you are currently conducting a job search. Letters from your most recent experiences are most helpful to employers. Please send UCC written notice that you want certain letters either added to or removed from your file. All necessary forms may be obtained at www.ucc.ku.edu.

For more information, contact Charlotte Leonard at 785-864-3624 or cleonard@ku.edu, or write University Career Center, 1601 Irving Hill Road, 110 Burge Union, Lawrence, KS 66045.

Education Career FairAll alumni are invited! Join us on

Wednesday, November 7, 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. in the Kansas Union Ballroom. For more information, see www.ucc.ku.edu/edfair.

Now Hear ThisOur Alumni

Are Doing

Great Things!

A L U M N I N E W S

1950s

1940s

1960s

1970s

1980sWhat have you been doing since you left KU?

We want to know! Please complete the white

sheet included with this issue and mail it back

to us. Or, you may e-mail your information to

us at pnaught@ku.edu. Many thanks to these

graduates for writing.

Vergil “Gene” Long (B.S.E., 1947) has lived at the

Missouri Veterans Home in Mt. Vernon, Mo., since

2004. He is vice president of the resident council and

chairman of the recreation and activities committee.

Long writes that he “has been fortunate the past 87 years

to have a great career and education.” Long played on the

KU football team. He worked as an athletic, recreation

and facility director for organizations including YMCA,

a Jewish community center and the Kansas City Athletic

Club before finishing his career as a training coordina-

tor for the U.S. Department of Health, Education and

Welfare for more than 300 nursing homes.

Robert M. Dula (B.S.E., 1953) served in the armed

forces during the Korean War. He coached in vari-

ous Kansas towns including Valley Falls and Wathena.

After earning a master’s degree in recreation from the

University of Indiana, he served as superintendent of

recreation in Lincoln, Neb., and as a real estate agent

before he retired.

Howard A. Fischer (1950) is now retired after work-

ing as a teacher, coach and school administrator. He also

served for 25 years in the Air Force Reserve. He and his

wife, Jeanne, a 1948 KU graduate, have three daughters,

one of whom is a teacher.

Martha L. Ryan (B.S.E., 1964), who also earned a

master’s degree in psychology from KU, retired from

the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in

health occupations credentialing, where she helped

develop the curriculum and tests for state certifica-

tion of certified nurse aides, medication aides and

home health aides.

Brenda Pine Dulny (B.S.E., 1971, M.S.E., 1987)

has been with the Shawnee Mission, Kan., school

district since 1987. Dulny has taught Title 1 reading, 3rd,

2nd and 1st grades. She now teaches kindergarten and

says, “I don’t think I can go any lower!” She adds, “I love

my job!”

Susan Pentlin (Ph.D., 1977) retired as professor

emeritus from Central Missouri State University (now

the University of Central Missouri) in 2005. She still

serves as commissioner of the Missouri Commission on

Human Rights, and on the board of governors of the

Midwest Holocaust Center, the program committee of

the Annual Scholars’ Conference on the Holocaust and

the Churches, and the board of the Missouri Folklore

Society. Last fall she published a new edition of a famous

Holocaust diary, Mary Berg’s Diary: Growing up in the

Warsaw Ghetto, with One World Publications in Oxford,

U.K. The diary first appeared in 1945 but has not been

available in English since then. Pentlin authored the

introduction and notes for the new edition. The U.K.

edition appeared in October 2006 and the U.S. edition

in April 2007.

Nancy Todd (B.S.E., 1970) is a state representative

in Colorado. She is vice-chair of the State, Veterans

and Military Affairs Committee and a member of the

Education Committee.

Terry Rodenberg (Ed.D., 1978) became the

director of the Western Illinois University Center for

International Studies on July 1. He was formerly assis-

tant vice chancellor and director of international affairs

of East Carolina University, and executive director and

director of international programs as well as a professor

of sociology at Central Missouri State University.

Bill R. Wagonseller (Ed.D., 1971) is professor

emeritus in the department of special education at

the University of Nevada–Las Vegas. His video series,

“Practical Parenting,” developed when he was the

director of UNLV Parent/Family Wellness, is available

for use in high school classes and with parenting and

counseling groups. He says, “After 30 years at UNLV,

KU is still No. 1.”

Joseph E. Hodnik (B.A., 1982, B.S.E., 1983, M.S.E.,

1989) was awarded the Olathe, Kan., Public Schools

Foundation Educator Excellence Award along with a

$500 unrestricted grant. Hodnik teaches 9th grade social

studies at Indian Trail Junior High School. He lives in

Olathe with his wife, Debbie (B.S. Pharmacy, 1983) and

thier daughters, Kristen and Sarah.

Jill J. Riemer (B.S.E., 1989) is the executive director

of the Georgia Afterschool Investment Council (GAIC),

one of 32 state-wide afterschool network organiza-

tions funded by the C.S. Mott Foundation. (The Kansas

Enrichment Network housed at KU is one of GAIC’s peer

groups.) GAIC strives to ensure that Georgia’s young

people have access to high-quality and affordable after-

school programs to help them succeed in life. Riemer

received her master’s degree in public administration

from George Washington University in 1997. She spent

13 years in Washington, D.C., in the educational policy

&Who, What Where

15

Edward “Ed” Dunkelblau (Ph.D., 1981), a counseling psychology graduate,

received the 2007 Alumni Distinguished Service Award at the 16th Annual School

of Education convocation on May 19 at the Lied Center on the KU campus.

The award commends Dunkelblau for his many contributions to education and

psychology and for his outstanding record of professional achievements. Since

1995, he has served as director of the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning

in Northbrook, Ill. He also serves as a clinical and educational consultant for the

Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning at the University of

Illinois-Chicago, and for multiple school districts in Illinois, New Jersey and Ohio.

He has developed innovative prevention programming for elementary and high

school students and has been an international presenter on multiple emotional

intelligences and social emotional learning. Dunkelblau has served as president of

the American Association for Therapeutic Humor and as a presenter at national

meetings of the American Psychological Association, the American Society for

Curriculum and Development, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, the Effective Schools Conference and

the International School Psychologist Association conference in Athens, Greece. He is the recipient of the Lifetime

Achievement Award from the Association for Applied Therapeutic Humor, and he has co-hosted a segment about

humor and child stress on Nickelodeon’s “Nick News” with Linda Ellerbee.

Ed Dunkelblau, at left, with Dean Rick Ginsberg

2000s

1990s

arena prior to taking the position with GAIC when she

moved to Atlanta, Ga., with her partner and son in

March 2005.

Nancy Ice Schlup (B.S.E., 1983) is currently in her

22nd year of teaching elementary-aged students with

special needs in Newton, Kan. Last May, she received her

district’s Excellence in Teaching Award, which came with

a $1,000 stipend for use in her classroom.

Bruce C. Underwood (M.S.E., 1982) is a vice presi-

dent, preventive care specialist, exercise physiologist and

certified nutrition specialist with Healthy Futures — a

consulting company specializing in aging, disease man-

agement, fitness, health, nutrition and preventive care in

Indian Wells, Calif. He earned his doctorate in preven-

tive care and a master’s degree in public health nutrition

from Loma Linda University. Underwood taught sports

medicine for Chapman University, and served as director

of John F. Kennedy Memorial Hospital’s Valley Wellness

and Prevention Center, executive director of the Heart

Institute of the Desert Foundation, and director of fit-

ness and tennis at the Health & Racquet Club at PGA

WEST. He has also worked as a preventive care profes-

sional for various facilities in Kansas and California and

as an elected official on the Coachella Valley Recreation

and Park District’s Board of Directors. He has competed

in the Los Angeles Marathon, the Seattle Marathon, the

Stockholm Marathon and the Boston Marathon.

Lisa Harrison (B.S.E., 1990, M.S.E., 1998) taught

middle school social studies and several elective classes

for 12 years at a Kansas City independent school. She

writes that she is enjoying a second career working as

a magazine editor for Kansas City Parent and Kansas

City Baby.

Dawn Meisenheimer Lewis (B.S.E., 1993) is a

stay-at-home mother with five children: Elijah, Rachel,

Aidan, Gracia and Eleana. She homeschools her three

elementary-aged children. Lewis also works with

children in church and is a columnist for “Midwest

Voices” for the Kansas City Star.

Christie McMahon (B.S.E., 1996) is employed by

DePuy Mitek, a Johnson & Johnson company, in Seattle,

Wash., as a sales representative for orthopedic implants.

She is earning her M.B.A. degree in marketing from

Regis University.

Michael K. Redburn (Ed.D., 1998), former

superintendent of the Bozeman, Mont., public

schools, began a new position as assistant professor

in educational leadership in the College of Education,

Health and Human Development at Montana State

University.

Hilarie Raleigh Hecox (B.S.E., 2002, M.S.E., 2003)

and Shane Hecox (B.S.E., 2003, M.S.E, 2007)

welcomed a son, Henry Michael Hecox, on October 10,

2006. Both teach at Buhler, Kan., High School–USD

313. Hilarie teaches physical science and biology;

Shane teaches algebra II and geometry. Hilarie is also

working on her administrator’s license.

Christen Jones (M.S.E., 2007) was promoted to

assistant dean of students and director of residence life

at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kan.

Heather L. Biven Keeler (M.S.E., 2006) taught

biology at Olathe South High School in Olathe, Kan.,

from 2004 to 2007. She is now staying home with her

baby, Braden Michael, who was born on June 6.

Michael J. Koonce (M.S.E., 2004) serves as

associate principal at Turner Middle School in Kansas

City, Kan. He is responsible for middle level curriculum

and instruction development and coordinating the

administration of the Kansas state assessments for his

building.

Anne Marie Martin (B.S.E., 2005) just received

her M.S.E. from the University of Notre Dame and is

a high school teacher at Bishop Snyder High School in

Jacksonville, Fla.

Michael A. Nelson (Ph.D., 2003) is a science educa-

tor at Northeast High School in Minneapolis, Minn.

Cathie J. Peterson (Ed.D. 2003) has served as dean

of community and educational services at Rio Hondo

College in Whittier, Calif., since July 2006.

Melinda Stephenson (B.S.E., 2004) is a middle

school English teacher in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

16

Willie Pless (B.S.E., 2007) is one of our most recent graduates in sport science.

Football fans will recognize his name as he was a stellar player on the 1982-1985

Jayhawk teams. Pless, who was an GTE Region VII Academic All-American in 1985,

tried to complete his degree for a few years after that, coming back to Lawrence and

taking coursework during the off-season of the Canadian Football League. He was

still just a few hours short until recently. The following, from Kansas Athletics Inc.,

sums up his latest honor.

“Willie Pless, one of the best defensive players — not only in school history, but also in Big Eight Conference and Canadian Football League history — had his name added to the University of Kansas Football Ring of Honor on September 1. A standout linebacker for the Jayhawks from 1982-1985, Pless was the 14th player to have his name displayed at the top of the north bowl of Memorial Stadium. Pless

had already been inducted in the Kansas Athletics Hall of Fame in 2000 and the Canadian Football League Hall of Fame in 2005. He was selected to the Big Eight Conference all-decade team for the 1980s. He was a three-time all-Big Eight first-team selection and finished his career as the conference’s all-time leading tackler with 633 stops. Pless’s name is on the school award given annually to the team’s Tackler of the Year. After his college days at Kansas, Pless went on to great success in the Canadian Football League where he made 11 CFL all-star teams and was named the league’s outstanding defensive player five times before retiring in 1999 as the league’s all-time leading tackler.”

Editor’s note: Nine of the 14 players whose names are on the Ring of Honor are School of Education alumni: Bobby Douglas, John Hadl, Curtis McClinton, George Mrkonic, Willie Pless, Gayle Sayers, Otto Schnellbacher, Oliver Spencer and John Zook.

In MemoryMelissa M. Chandley (B.S.E., 2004), 25, of Edwardsville, Kan., died June 15. Chandley was born in Kansas City, Kan., and was a lifelong area resident. She was a 3rd grade teacher at Prairie Ridge Elementary School, in the DeSoto School District, for the last two years. She was valedictorian of the 2000 graduating class of Bonner Springs High School, received her bach-elor’s degree from KU in 2004 and completed her ele-mentary education program in the School of Education in 2005. She was active in many activities including vocal music in high school, treasurer of the School of Education Student Organization, banner carrier for the school at commencement and recipient of a National Advisory Board Senior Leadership Award. She was an active member of Judson Baptist Church and was also a member of the National Education Association.

Annabelle B. McFadden (M.S.E., 1963) died February 18, 2006. Annabelle had been a resident of Leavenworth, Kan., since 1962.

Rachel Armstrong Thoroman (B.A., 1931) died December 21, 2006, a month shy of her 98th birthday. Born February 1, 1909 in Kansas City, Kan., Rachel was the first of four children of Pearl and Paul Armstrong. Her father was a member of the Kansas Wyandotte tribe. Her father bought a house and moved the whole family to Lawrence, Kan., when she was a junior so that all of the Armstrong children could attend KU. She gradu-ated from college during the Depression and, after a short stint as a middle school teacher, she was trained in social work and became a social worker in northern Kansas. In 1936 she met and married Elbert Thoroman. When their three children were in school, she returned to work. Her final job was as the patient coordinator at Gompers Rehabilitation Center in Phoenix, Ariz., until she retired in 1976. After her retirement she began sew-ing clothes for the Back-to-School Program. She was also a member of the Back-to-School board and helped with the distribution of clothes until about 1995. She sewed well over 100 items each year until 2004. She also traveled extensively after her retirement and was active as a volunteer in her church and library. Thoroman is survived by one daughter, two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

y first college class at the University of Kansas in the mid-1960s was bright and early on a Monday morning, 7:30 a.m. in Hoch Auditorium. It was with Dr. Clark Bricker and at least 800 other students. In other words, the class was about the size of my hometown of Caldwell, Kan.

As I approached the famous building wearing my cowboy boots and jeans, I had the same age-old questions of every student on the first day of class: I wondered if I would fit in, if I was going to do well, if my instructor would care about me, and if I would like the teacher and the class. In fact, this was my test to see if I even belonged at such a great university with so many talented students who, I felt, had so many experiences beyond my rural background.

During the next hour, I began a journey through Dr. Bricker’s class that would set me sailing on a course that determined my life’s work, and model for me how I wanted to affect the lives of those around me.

Dr. Bricker met all 800 of the students inside the front door of Hoch Auditorium with his Polaroid camera and lots of film. He quickly trained a few early-arriving student helpers, and in the next hour he captured the picture, the name on the back of the picture, and the heart and soul of all 800 students. He knew my name, my hometown, my heritage and my fears — all by the end of the first class. My parents had reminded me that “no one cares how much you know, until they know how much you care,” and Dr. Clark W. Bricker was suddenly one of the brightest men I had ever met. His brilliance on that day was not measured by the fact that he was one of the scientists to create the atomic bomb by being part of the “Manhattan Project,” or by the fact that he wrote all the textbooks, but rather because he had been able to answer every first-day question of all 800 students in one hour.

That Wednesday, the second day of Chem 121, Dr. Bricker stood at the front entrance to shake every hand and call every student by name as they filed in. Class started with some chemistry magic followed by thunderous applause — and it was that way for the entire semester.

Dr. Bricker modeled teaching standards that live on in every student he touched. He demonstrated that high verbal ability was only one of many types of intelligence and should not be the measure of potential as a chemist or person. Intelligence in collaboration, organization, social skills, common sense, work ethic and application of experience all were richly rewarded in the chemistry lab. He valued our individuality and made each student feel as though the class was designed just for him or her. Dr. Bricker’s mission was to bring each student along as far as he could in the precious time we had, and the traditional sorting and separating seemed far from his mind. His energy, his smile that often turned to laughter (laughter I still hear in my mind today), and his ability to model for all to see that he was so glad we came to his class has continued to play like a movie in my mind every year when I meet new students.

Each week as I run past his grave in the Pioneer Cemetery on Daisy Hill, I am reminded that my life’s work has really been an effort to continue the profound teaching of Dr. Clark Bricker. He was practicing the best aspects of No Child Left Behind, multiple intelligence, outcomes based learning, IEPs and many other noted educational thoughts long before they were codified as the trends of the day. I meet former students of Dr. Bricker continually and they all speak of his passionate, personalized, enthusiastic, pragmatic approach to education.

One hour of “Life 101” with Dr. Bricker in the 1960s in the big barn now called Bricker Auditorium changed my life in positive,

profound ways. I always remember the power of great teachers.

Mike Neal, Ed.D., assistant dean, pictured here, earned three degrees from the School of Education and has held a variety of secondary positions in Kansas schools. He teaches KU’s introductory teaching class, initiating hundreds to the pleasures (and pains) of the profession. Neal is also executive director of the Kansas Association for Supervision and Curriculum Develop-ment, associate director for Kansas North Central State Education Accreditation and faculty advisor for the School of Education Student Organization.

Remembering the TeachersWho Touched Our Lives—by Mike Neal

Dr. Bricker

M

17

The Jayhawk Educator

is published twice each year

by The University of Kansas

School of Education for the

School’s more than 24,000 alumni.

Dean Rick Ginsberg, Ph.D.

Editor Paula Naughtin

Design Robin Ward The Write Design

Thanks to KU University Relations, KU Endowment Association, Kansas Athletics Inc., Doug Adams, Hong Chuong, Rebecca Dukstein, Allyson Flaster, Shala London and Julie Tollefson.

Alumni updates and requests for more information may be sent to:

KU School of EducationAttn: The Jayhawk EducatorJoseph R. Pearson Hall1122 West Campus Road, Room 212Lawrence, KS 66045-3101

For more information, call (785) 864-3758 or e-mail pnaught@ku.edu.

State dollars were not used to pay for any part of this publication.